Brothers
by manga-neko-96
Summary: Lee Ping was kidnapped just like his older brother 5 years ago. Trained to be an assassin like Serpent, Lee has a very different childhood. Determined to escape their fate, the two boys escape. Lee and Serpent, really Sung Li, attempt to live in the shadows as normal brothers. Leaving their dark past behind, Lee's life changes being raised by his older brother Sung Li.
1. Chapter 1

**Brothers**

Chapter 1: Escape

Korea 1992

A young couple held their newborn baby close. Sung Li Ping slept in his mother's arms while a photographer took the family's first picture. Little did the Pings know that their family would soon be broken.

In the middle of the night only a few days after the Pings settled in their home, tragedy struck. Sung Ping was taken from his family. For 5 years, all Sung knew was training to be a warrior, to become "Serpent." At age five, he would complete his first assignment. He would take his brother Lee the same way he was taken years ago.

Korea 1997

Lee Ping slept in his mother's arms as his father finished marking Lee's arm with a simple tattoo. After losing Sung before he had the chance to bestow this mark of protection, he made sure to give it to his second son as soon as he could. Though the Pings were more cautious with Lee, Serpent had been training for this moment his whole life.

"Don't worry Lee," his father whispered, "you can always rely on your family."

Serpent tried to ignore that his target had a name and a family. He wondered if his parents ever did that, or if he even had a family...

He shook his head, telling himself to focus on the mission. He shoved his previous thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Target sighted. I'm going in." The young boy dropped in from his perch outside the window. He silently lifted the sleeping baby from the crib. Holding his prize in one arm, he slipped through the window and away from the house.

As he was leaving, something by the house caught his eye. After checking that no one could see him, he crept over to see what it was.

"In memory of Sung Li Ping..." Serpent read. Lee had lost his older brother 5 years ago. Looking down at the child in his arms, Serpent decided to become the older brother Lee deserved.

"Don't worry," Serpent whispered to the child, "I'll be your big brother from now on. I won't let anyone hurt you ever. Brothers look out for each other because we're family."

Baby Lee snuggled against his brother's chest as they swiftly traveled in the dark.

* * *

Korea 2002

"Hey! Brother! Sung!"

Serpent groaned. "I told you, you have to call me Serpent."

Lee frowned at his older brother. "Why? I think Serpent is a terrible name."

"Well, it's better than yours, Lizard." Serpent teased, smirking. Once Lee was old enough, Serpent told "Lizard" that his name was really Lee. He also shared the name he adopted for himself 5 years ago.

"Call me Lee! What idiot came up with these names anyway? We aren't reptiles," Lee huffed.

"Yeah, but on assignment we are Serpent and Lizard, not Sung and Lee." Serpent reached over to ruffle the younger boy's hair. He hated the names too, but the two boys didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Lee scowled and ducked away. "That doesn't matter. I came to remind you that you start my sword training today."

Serpent mentally cursed. He hoped Lee would forget about that. Both boys were lethal in hand-to-hand combat, and Serpent didn't want to give Lee any more ways to kill someone. He was already an expert swordsman, and only at ten years old. Lee was five and caught on quickly. It wasn't an ideal life, but the two boy's didn't have much of a choice.

"Fine. Today I will show you the basics." He took out two wooden practice swords and handed one to Lee. "I'll walk you through the first kata. Don't focus on power. You need to practice the movements until they are fluid." Serpent demonstrated four basic moves: a parry and strike, a slash, an evasive maneuver , and a defensive block. He first went through the kata at normal speed, and then slowed it down so Lee could watch each individual move.

"This doesn't look too hard." Lee scoffed. He attempted the first move... only for it to end in failure. Serpent chuckled as he watched his little brother lose his grip on the sword completely.

"It's harder than it looks. Now, I'm going to show you the proper form." He had Lee stand with the sword drawn, pacing around Lee adjusting his stance. "You also are going to lose your sword if you hold it like that." He moved Lee's hands so they were in the proper position. "Hold it with your left hand at the base, wrapping your fingers around the hilt, keeping the bottom fingers tight. Grip it the same way with your right hand below the guard." Lee did so and marveled at how different it felt.

Lee attempted the moves again and found he completed them this time. A smile lit up his face. "Sung! Look! I did it!" he exclaimed.

"Great. Now keep doing it for the rest of training." Serpent said, smirking. Lee's face fell.

"What? That's it?!" he cried, but his complaints were ignored as Serpent sat against the wall.

"Get to it," Serpent commanded. Lee groaned and went through the movements again. The strange moves felt awkward at first, but with repetition they gradually smoothed. By the end of the night, Lee's first kata was passable. He needed work, but it was miles better than his first "attempt." When training finally finished, Lee collapsed. He was exhausted from the constant training. "Keep working. Same time tomorrow." Serpent called over his shoulder as he left the training room.

"I really hate him sometimes," Lee growled. He pushed himself off the floor, ignoring his aching muscles, mentally cursing his brother.

* * *

Evenings were the best times for the brothers. After long days of training, they were allowed time to talk. Lee longed to leave their training and live a normal life. Serpent wanted to leave, but they had to wait until they were older. He was working on getting all the documents needed to leave Korea.

"Where so you think we should go?" Lee asked.

Serpent thought a moment. "North America is our best bet. The U.S. is out after that airplane disaster. I was thinking about Canada. We know enough English and French to live there. Not to mention we grew up speaking Korean." Both could speak Korean, Chinese, Japanese, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. In addition, Serpent was fluent in German, Dutch, Finnish, Russian, and Vietnamese.

Lee grinned. "Finally all those boring language classes are coming in handy. You and I will make it on our own. You always say 'brothers look out for each other.'"

* * *

Korea 2007

Two boys fought through an army of robots. Sung, 14 years old, used a staff to behead the latest batch of robots. Lee, 9 years old, managed to take out several before he lost his footing. Sung grabbed Lee's hand and sprinted down the hall.

"Hurry Lee, we need to go NOW!" Sung dragged his brother through the corridors. Using his staff, Sung took out another fleet of robots. Lee managed to regain his balance and help his brother again. "You really think these robots can stop us?"

"Yeah!" Lee piped up. "Nothing can beat the Dragon Bros!" The two fought through the last of the robots and finally escaped.

"We're finally leaving behind this prison. It was all we knew for years, but now we can make our own choices." Sung said. "From this moment on, we are no longer Lizard and Serpent. We are Lee and Sung Ping, two ordinary brothers starting fresh. Now we live in the shadows.

* * *

**A/N: Hello Detentionaire family! My friend got me hooked on this show and I absolutely loved it! I had the idea for this fic ever since Serpent was first introduced. Since Serpent's name is Li and Lee was already Lee, I decided for Li to be his middle name. I liked the name Sung, so that is my fan name for him :) This story is AU and a few changes that are not obvious are:**

**1. Lee is born and raised in Korea, so he has an accent :3  
2. This will have more focus on Lee's elementary and middle school life as well as Sung's high school life  
3. Sung is going to begin discovering the conspiracies, paving the path for Lee  
4. They do not know Mrs. Ping and Dr. Ping are their parents**

**Things are going to stay canon such as Lee being framed for the prank and all that jazz, so the story is not completely random. This is just a look at how it would be different if Lee and Li (Sung) knew they were brothers and grew up together. I hope you enjoy!**

**Manga-neko signing out :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Canada 2007

Lee Ping was sound asleep in his new room. He and Sung escaped Korea and traveled all the way to Toronto, Canada, where they have been living for the past three weeks. Sung managed to find a small house near the elementary and high schools. Sung managed to find a part time job to make enough to live on. The two of them both entered martial arts competitions to earn extra money. So far, their life had been fairly peaceful.

"MORNING LEE!" Sung shouted tackling his little brother.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Lee cried rolling into a defensive stance.

"You must keep your senses sharp little brother," Sung replied calmly, engaging Lee in combat. "You never know from where the next attack comes."

"BUT YOU DO THIS EVERY MORNING!" Lee shouted, blocking the strikes. "IT'S ANNOYING!" He flips Sung over into the wall.

Sung pushes off the wall and pins Lee down. "Yes, and this is why you need practice." He lets Lee up and throws Lee a bag. "Don't forget, school starts for both of us today!"

Sung registered himself as a freshman at A. Nigma High and Lee as a 4th grader at the elementary school. The schools were close enough together that he could drop Lee off and pick him up from school every day.

* * *

After breakfast, Sung dropped Lee off before going on to A. Nigma. "Don't forget, you can't show off in class. Other kids can't do the things you and I can. I guess you should try to make friends or whatever it is that kids do," Sung reminded him.

"Got it. See you after school brother!" Lee called to him. Sung smiled and continued to school. Lee entered his classroom and looked at the kids in his class.

"I guess I should try to make some friends," Lee muttered. He approached a boy with red hair who was messing with a calculator. "Hello! I am Lee. I just moved here. What is your name?"

The boy looked at him and started laughing. "Jeez, your accent is worse than Martinez's." Lee was seething. This kid thinks he is so great? Lee knew he could take him down in his sleep! Remembering what Sung told him, Lee forced himself to relax and not rearrange the kid's face.

Lee tensed after feeling a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around, ready to strike, and came face-to-face with a short Hispanic boy. "_Hola_, I am Camillio Martinez. Don't let Irwin bother you. He is just jealous of us, _ese_."

"So he made fun of your accent too? Jerk, if my bro was here, he would be in the hospital," Lee said relaxing.

"You're _hermano_ sounds way better my _hermanita_. All she does is cry."

"You might not think that if you met him..." Lee mumbled.

"Anyway, don't worry about those other guys! I started here last year in 3rd grade and was able to find some people who aren't total jerks," Cam said nodding. He put his hand on Lee's shoulder an gestures to the space in front of him. "Stick with me and I'll teach you all you need to know."

* * *

Meanwhile, Sung was also adjusting to his new high school routine.

"How does anyone find their way around this place? It is too big! Not only that, the other students so far are either morons or have a death wish!" He clenched his fists in frustration. "What I wouldn't give to be able to hit something right now..."

"Excuse me," someone behind him said. Sung whirled around ready to eliminate the threat.

"Calm down, I didn't mean to scare you." Sung analyzed the person in front of him. It was a girl, probably the same age as himself. She looked to have Asian descent, but not quite Korean like him. She was probably Japanese.

"What do you want?" Sung didn't like this girl. She was messing with his plan to be inconspicuous.

"Well, you looked a bit lost. I was new last year and finding my way around was hell. I thought I may as well help out."

"No. I can find it on my own. Goodbye." He walked away from the strange girl.

He looked down at his schedule and managed to find his first period class.

* * *

At the end of the day, Lee was excited to tell Sung all about his first day. Cam was his first friend and told him all about his classmates. His subjects were fairly easy as well. He excelled in mathematics, reading, and French. History and science were harder, but he still enjoyed the subjects. His handwriting was atrocious since he was used to writing Korean symbols. Hopefully Sung can help with his writing.

Sung was overjoyed to finally be out of school. His math class was too easy, he spoke French better than the teacher, and literature dragged on for what seemed like hours. Biology was frustrating and history was useless at the moment. He didn't care about ancient people developing agriculture, he wanted to learn about wars and revolutions. Hopefully Lee had a better day.

"SUNG!" A small child barreled into his gut.

"Hey Lee, did you miss me?" he asked grinning.

"Yeah I did! Can't I go to school with you?" Lee pleaded.

"No can do. I don't make the laws, I only break them," Sung joked. "Did you have a good day otherwise?"

Lee started grinning. "I made a new friend. Come here Cam! This is my big brother Sung!" A small Hispanic boy emerged from the group of other children. He scurried over and looked up at Sung with awe.

"_Hola._ Lee your _hermano_ is even better than you described!" Cam exclaimed.

"Nice to meet you Cam. I'm Sung." Sung smiled, but it looked more intimidating than he meant. Several kids around them backed away, but Cam didn't seem bothered by it.

"Sung! Did you meet anyone?" Lee asked looking at him expactantly.

"No. All those people were morons or had bad attitudes."

"Sung!" Lee whined. "You have to make some friends! Didn't you at least talk to anyone?"

"This one girl trtied to show me to my classes, but she was annoying, so I told her to leave." Sung stated.

Lee smacked his forehead. "This is going to be harder than I thought." Lee grabbed Cam and led him a few feet away where the two younger boys started intensly discuccing something. When they finished, Lee stepped foreward. "Sun! Cam and I have a plan!"

Sung looked at Cam, who was shaking. "W-well, we think you should have friends too." He mumbled.

"So tomorrow, you are going to talk to that girl!" Lee proclaimed.

Sung was not amused. "What if I don't?"

"I will sneak into your school and force you to do it." Lee siad, smirking.

"Fine," Sung grumbled. He knew Lee would do it. After all, he learned from the best.

* * *

"Hello." Sung turned around to see the same girl from yesterday standing by his locker.

"Morning," Sung huffed. He promised Lee to talk to this girl, but he was not happy about it. She was annoying, but if the only way to get Lee to stop pestering him was to answer her questions, so be it.

"I never got your name. Mine is Sayo Mei," she said smiling.

"Sung Li." He turned away, uncomfortable with contact this close.

"That's a nice name. Is it Chinese?" she asked.

"Korean," Sung replied. She walked with him, greeting several other classmates with a smile. When they reached Sung's classroom, she truned to him, still beaming.

"Meet me at lunch okay? I'll look for you." She winked and turned to skip down the hall to her class.

"What just happened?" he asked, confusion marring his usual expressionless mask.

"Dude, new kid is scoring with the older ladies!" some behemoth called.

Sung glared at him, wishing he could kill with a look. "Don't talk to me," Sung growled.

Before anything else could happen, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

* * *

"I'm worried about him, Cam." Lee was currently working with Cam on a partner project for science.

"_Ese_, from what I've seen, your _hermano_ will be fine," Cam reassured him.

"I know, but-"

"_Dios mio! _You need to relax! Sometimes I wonder who is the older one." Cam threw up his arms in exasperation.

"Sorry, I'm just worried. Sung isn't the most... _social_ person."

"Listen _ese_, I know the way to the high school. We can confront him there."

Lee looked at Cam and chuckled. "You know, you really can be an evil genius when you want to."

Cam smirked. "_Si _ it's a gift."

* * *

Sung was dreading lunch, and it was all because of that girl! Who does she think she is, acting all cute and happy? It was annoying!

"Mr. Ping!" Sung was forced out of his thoughts by the teacher's shout. "Thank you for gracing us with your attention." He said sarcastically. History class was interesting, but the teacher was awful! They were working on the Asian unit, and Sung was an expert. "Why don't you explain three key factors of the Meiji Restoration?"

Sung smirked. The teacher thought he would choke up, but Sung was smarter. "The Meiji Restoration marked the end of Japan's isolation from the Western world. After the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, military officials placed restrictions to give the common people a sense of security. This included confiscation of weapons from all people not in the military, thus carrying weapons was made illegal. With the dissolution of daimyos and the weapon restrictions, samurai were out of a job. Many became _ronin_ and acted as mercenaries. Western influence had a large impact on Japanese life. With the doors of trade forced open by America, many younger Japanese adopted Western modernization including dress, technology, art, music, literature, and more. Steam engines were Western and greatly improved transportation. However, the older Japanese were against these changes and longed to live the traditional lifestyle. This created a rift between those who pushed for modernization and those who pushed for tradition."

The whole class was silent. Even the teacher was speechless. The bell rang, and everyone was dismissed for lunch. Before Sung left, the teacher pulled him aside.

"Sung, you are a very intelligent student. However, it would do us both good if you pay attention in class. We don't want to give the others any ideas on slacking in class." He smiled, and Sung found himself agreeing. Maybe this teacher wasn't too horrible.

Sung walked out of the classroom and saw Sayo standing there, waiting for him. "Hey! I thought I would just meet you and we could walk together."

"Alright." Say brightened hearing his agreement.

"Great! Sung- can I call you Sung?" He nodded. "Okay, Sung, have you made any friends? I noticed you are kind of a loner."

"I don't like people. You are the closest thing to a friend I have," he stated. Sayo blushed, and looked away. She didn't know she was the only one!

The two sat down for lunch. "So, do you have family here?" Sayo asked.

"Just my little brother Lee," he replied.

"Wait. So your name is Sung Li, and his name is Lee. Did your parents have any imagination?" she asked jokingly.

Sung's expression turned dark. "We have no parents. For as long as I can remember, it has been Lee and me. I will protect him no matter what."

"Sorry! I live with only my father, and I swear, he has a messed up sense of humor. I mean who names their kid Sayo Nara?"

Sung let a small smile slip. "He named you Goodbye? Harsh."

"I know right?" She groaned, laying her head in her arms. "I'm pretty sure 'Sayo Nara' wins over 'Li and Lee' in the horrible names contest."

"It's not that bad" he said, struggling to hide his grin. She looked at him, annoyed, but looked surprised.

"That's the first time I've seen you smile," she teased. "And here I thought your default face was 'annoyed and hates everyone'."

He frowned. "Shut up. The only reason I am tolerating you is because of my brother." Sayo grinned.

"Well, I want to meet your brother Lee. He sounds like quite the character."

* * *

"Cam, are you sure we are going the right way?" Lee asked.

"_Claro que si_. Look, there's the sign." Sure enough, the sign reading "A. Nigma High School" was about a block away. Students were just getting out of their last classes and were exiting the building.

"Look! I think I see Sung!" Lee said happily. "I think he is talking to a girl. Yes! My brother is normal!"

"Um _ese_, turn it down some. People are staring." Lee blushed.

"Lee, what are you doing here?" Sung asked.

"We came to make sure you kept your promise!" Lee said.

"_Dios mio_, this is your _amiga_? She is one _chica bonita_. I guess she is _su media naranja_, if you know what I mean?" Cam said nudging Sung.

"What does oranges have to do with anything? Kid, you aren't making any sense." Sung replied.

"_Madre de Dios!_ No one gets me!" Cam sighed.

"It's okay. My name is Sayo Mei. I'm guessing you are Lee?" she asked, pointing to Lee.

"Yep! And this is my best friend Camillio!"

"Cam!" Cam corrected. Sayo laughed and walked over to a car that pulled up to the curb.

"My dad is here. I'll see you tomorrow Sung!" she waved and Sung sighed.

"Finally she's gone. Annoying girl..." Sung muttered. Lee ignored his brother. Nothing could dampen his mood now that he and his brother were finally experiencing a normal life.

* * *

**A/N: I did not know how to end this chapter! I hope this ending is okay. Sorry about the history rant, I just wanted to show how much Sung knows. I know I used an excessive amount of Spanish, and some was confusing so I am putting a translation for one of the parts.**

**Su media Naranja- Your better half. **(The reason Sung mentions oranges is because it is an idiomatic expression. The direct translation is "Your orange half." Since it is an idiom, Sung doesn't understand why Cam is talking about fruit. It would be similar if someone said "You have two left feet" when talking about dancing. Someone who isn't a native English speaker would be confused because the person has a left and right foot.)

**Hope this clears up any confusion! sorry for the long wait and long A/N, I'll try to get the next chapter out more quickly!**

**Manga-neko signing out! :3**


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